I've been doing more racing than race reporting, so time to catch up, with reports in reverse order.

Kings of New England Cycling.

With a 3 way brotherly battle at the 81 mile Lake Auburn road race 6/6, the King brothers beat out McCormack and Keough brothers.

I, Robbie, gave Teddy a hard time, but Teddy, showing some Giro d'Italia form and endurance won. The race went like this: Seven 11.5 mile laps. In the first two laps, breakaway attempts were marked, and no one got more than 10 seconds. But then a group of two CCB, two Bikereg, and an NCC rider got a gap, so I bridged across with Damien Colfer (WCS). As we neared the breakaway, Teddy came screaming across the gap towing two riders. So I pulled through, followed by Teddy, who continued motoring along, but no one followed. So I blitzed away from the rest of our chase group, and joined Ted, and then the breakaway. We rode friendly for a while, then unfriendly at the end of the 5th lap, attacked the break, and rode the last two laps with just the two of us. Then Ted turned on his special Giro afterburner, which rudely dropped Robbie, who got 2nd place, 5 seconds back. Former IFer, Tom Gosselin got 4th place, and Tom Lebosquet came out of hibernation, and provided race strategy and enthusiasm.

The weekend before was the first ever Connecticut Stage Race. Representing IF was Todd, Bruno, Emerson, Hanson, Kevin, Jerome, and me. A gusty, 8 mile, out and back time trial got things rolling Saturday. Those IFers with TT gear did well, Todd got 16th, I was 5^th, Emerson and Bruno had a virtual tie. Others, um, tried hard. So, going into stage 2, a circuit race, IF/Lionettes had all positions ranging from 5th place to Lanterne Rouge. We marked all the moves, but nothing significant ever got away.

Sunday, there was a 91 mile hilly road race. I started a break from the starting gun, with powerhouse, Roger Aspholm. That was a joke and got caught, but the one that formed afterwards wasn't. The break formed with several high-on-GC-riders, as the race climbed a subtle grade for many miles shortly after the start. So I bridged across to it, bringing Will Dugan, and making it a group of six, and powered it along. Towards the end, a couple guys were dogging it, and I wasn't eager to work harder than anyone else. So unfortunately, we were caught by an impressive chase, and with my chances for moving up on GC foiled, I mostly sat in the last three miles and waited to sprint. Meanwhile, the rider right behind me on GC, Dan Bowman (Kelly Benefits) had ridden off the front solo, and ended up gaining enough time to pass me on GC. My mind was fried, so I wasn't thinking about that, just thinking about a stage finish, where I sprinted against all the guys who were pulling, and felt lame taking that, and even lamer losing a GC place due to not thinking. So I finished 4th on the stage, in 6th overall, and stewed on that for several days. Todd ripped in with 12th place on the stage, and rounding out the top 21 was Jon Bruno. Todd also finished 12th on GC. How does a med school student do that?

The previous weekend, Kevin, Jerome, Emerson, Bruno, and I headed to Somerville, NJ for a three-race extravaganza.

The first, and best, race was the Hills of Somerset Road Race on Saturday 5/23. This may be my perfect race, as evidenced by two wins in two attempts! We had a team plan for me to cover early moves. But rather than waiting to cover anything, I attacked up a hill about 5 miles into the race, and was joined by John Minturn (Empire) and Mike Creed (Team Type 1). We rolled along in lonely fashion, until Kevin Wolfson made my day and bridged across solo! This despite averaging 30mph in the first hour! And without even sitting on to catch his breath, he immediately starting taking pulls! So then we were four riders. Ten miles later, another big group bridged to us, containing two more Type 1's, Empire, two CCB, and others, making our breakaway 12 riders. A steep climb ditched a few riders, and we lost a few more on the way back to Somerville over another longer ascent. When a couple attacks weren't going my way in the closing 10 miles, and I was being forced to cover all the others, I sat in for a bit, then unleashed my famous seated sprint, and won! Heck yes! Kevin, who had ridden hard all day, came in for 8th place, making it a banner day for IF/Lionettes.

Sunday we raced the Bound Brook crit, which was a slog in the rain. Kevin, Bruno, Emerson and I were actively getting in breakaways, and representing the team up the road, although none of us were in the wee breakaway that stuck 'til the finish. Jerome and Todd were waiting in the wings for the sprint, and Jerome brought home the bacon with 15th place. I followed with 16th, after leading out the pack, which otherwise seemed content to wallow along in the final laps. Unfortunately, as Bruno put it, Emerson won the race to the ER for stitches in his hand after a crash.

And in the Tour of Somerville, the big NRC event on Memorial Day, we all raced like champs. We took three primes as a team, and were in many, many breakaways. But it came back together, and in the end, a crash near the front of the pack put us out of contention. Jerome and I caught back up to the lead group, and took 28th and 30th places, which, out of a starting field of around 200 riders is pretty darn good. And we loved staying with the Federico's just outside of Somerville. Thanks a million Will and Erika!

The weekend before, May 16 and 17, Jerome, Kevin, Bruno and I had our first road trip since Battenkill, and headed to the mid-Atlantic. Bank of America Wilmington GP was our first NRC criterium of the year. Those races are the real deal, and to get ready mentally, I was preparing myself to be slaughtered. Especially since I didn't get my normal pre-race coffee. But my pal, Bill Elliston, hooked me up with some some coffee soda. So then I felt like Robbie "ten-menzies" King. The race was fast, and often strung out, and I wasn't sticking my nose in the wind much. However, I was devastated when I saw a break roll away that I missed, and was certain would win the race. And it would have, had Bissell not uncorked one hell of a chase, and brought the break back at the tail end of the race. So, with the race redeemed, I tried to ride as smart as I could, following wheels through the last corners, and ripped in for 8th place! Jerome was always riding good position and near the front, although didn't get the result he was after.

At Kelly Cup, things were dicey. There were many winding corners through rotaries and around a park, and thus plenty of crashes to weave through, and everyone fancied himself a winner, so there was lots of cutting and diving for corners, lots of wrecks, one off-road section, and ample mayhem. As a team, we were generally near the front, and able to roll in a few of the 10-second breakaways. But with crashes going off like fireworks, it was hard to predict the outcome, so I rode in a somewhat safe, if conservative way, and got 13th, which I was still really happy with, and Jerome hot on my heels, until a wreck derailed his plans for an epic win. Sketchy, but fun.